Oh, TikTok… you never seem to skimp on the drama, do you? ICYMI, the TikTok beauty community has been in flames recently due to the viral Mascara-gate controversy. On Jan. 24, popular TikTok creator and beauty guru Mikayla Nogueira posted a video reviewing the L’Oreal Telescopic Lift Mascara on her social media platforms. However, what started out as a seemingly innocent review sparked major controversy from TikTok users and Nogueira’s fans alike.
In the video, Nogueira has been accused of using false eyelashes to hyperbolize the results of the product. Her Campus reached out to Nogueira’s team for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication. Audiences were taken aback by the review, mainly because Nogueira has established herself as an honest voice in the beauty community. While many fans were asking for a statement from Nogueira, others were calling upon a familiar face (TW: Jeffree Star) to return to makeup reviews. All this to say, it’s been pretty dramatic around these parts.
Since the viral video, Nogueira took a break from social media. That is, until Feb. 1, when the creator posted a video on her TikTok account addressing the elephant in the room… well, kind of.
After a week-long break, Nogueira posted her long-awaited return to TikTok. She starts out the video by taking a deep breath, looking into the camera, and saying, “I’m sure we all know why we’ve gathered here today.” At this point, I was on the edge of my seat. Is she really going to address it? Will we know the truth?
I’ll spoil it for you: if you were hoping for a response to Lash-gate, keep dreaming. Instead of addressing the controversy, Nogueira continues on to film a two-part Valentine’s Day makeup tutorial. Side. Eye.
Nogueira went on to post another video after the tutorial: an unboxing of the unscented HUDA Beauty powder. And while sensitive skin babes like me internally celebrated the launch, I know that I’m still waiting to hear what Nogueira has to say about the drama. Judging by the comment section, I’m not alone in that.
One user wrote, “Also, thank god for this powder but mikayla girl give us the tea,” while others poked fun at the drama writing, “what mascara we using today??” Most notably in the comments was the presence of the elephant emoji. Naturally, much of the internet took this as a nod to the phrase “elephant in the room.” However, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.
A user commented, “What about the elephant in the room?! Lol” to which Nogueira replied, “I speak about elephants in the next video”. A quick visit to part two of her makeup tutorial reveals that she’s not talking about the real elephant in the room (AKA, the drama) but rather a makeup technique used when applying eyeshadow. Be so for real right now.
According to Nogueira, the “elephant” method is a way to get rid of eyeshadow fallout. In simple terms, it’s just blowing the fallout off of your face. That’s literally it.
Aside from a few comments on the viral mascara video, Nogueira has yet to address the controversy on TikTok. However, I’ll be sure to update you when she does. Until then, I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see (and refresh Nogueira’s TikTok page, obvi).